Indra Hang Subba, the sole MP of the Himalayan state of Sikkim, joined the meeting of the National Democratic Alliance in Delhi on Wednesday, barely 24 hours after the announcement of the results of Lok Sabha elections in which he had contested against the BJP.

In Sikkim, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) headed by chief minister P.S. Tamang returned to power for the second time. In the state, Assembly elections were held along with the Parliament elections.

The BJP, which contested separately in the state polls, ended up with a miserable result. While the SKM bagged 31 of 32 seats with a vote share of 58.38 per cent, BJP got only 5.18 per cent votes.

Similarly, the SKM and the BJP contested separately in the lone Lok Sabha seat and Subba of the SKM won by a margin of 80,830 votes and a vote share of 42.52 per cent. Dinesh Chandra Nepal, who was fielded by the BJP, secured only 5.09 per cent votes.

“It was interesting to see that within 24 hours of the results, the SKM MP rushed to Delhi and expressed his party’s solidarity with the BJP-led NDA. Nothing is impossible in politics,” said a political observer.

A political veteran based in Sikkim said such twists and turns had been witnessed earlier in the state and pointed out that in January this year, the SKM had backed D.T. Lepcha, the BJP nominee for the sole Rajya Sabha seat in the state.

“Earlier, the SKM had supported the NDA. But this time, it was too much of a hurry. Though it is the matter of only one MP, it seems that the SKM wants to prove that it has stood with BJP when the party is grappling for a majority mark,” he said.

Leaders of Tamang’s party, when asked about the prompt move to lend support to Narendra Modi, said they were with the NDA at the national level. That Tamang and his party were eyeing the support from the Centre for the hill state that sits on the Indo-Sino border, was evident from the chief minister’s post on social media.

After his win, as Modi posted on X and congratulated him, Tamang was quick to reciprocate. Also, on June 4, the chief minister was quick to post that his party would back the NDA.